Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the clinical efficacy of hyperbaric oxygen combined with right median-nerve stimulation (RMNES) in patients with disorders of consciousness caused by brain injury.
Methods: A total of 120 patients with consciousness disorders caused by brain injury were selected. They were randomly divided into three groups, a control group, test group 1 (treated with RMNES after hyperbaric oxygen therapy [HBOT]), and test group 2 (treated with RMNES at the same time as HBOT), with 40 patients in each group. Before and after treatment, the Glasgow coma scale (GCS), brainstem auditory-evoked potential (BAEP), electroencephalogram (EEG), and upper-limb sensory-evoked potential (USEP) were evaluated for the three groups of patients.
Results: The GCS score of patients in the three groups significantly improved compared with that before treatment (p < .05). There were significant differences in GCS scores among the three groups (p < .05), and the GCS score for the patients was test group 2>test group 1>control group. The EEG, BAEP, and USEP scores were significantly improved compared with those before treatment (p < .05), and the degree of improvement of patients in the three groups was test group 2>test group 1>control group (p < .05). The clinical efficacy of test group 2 was higher than that of test group 1, and the clinical efficacy of test group 1 was higher than that of the control group (p < .05).
Conclusion: Hyperbaric oxygen combined with RMNES can improve the state of consciousness and promote the recovery of consciousness for patients with consciousness disorders caused by brain injury, and the effect of RMNES combined with HBOT in the chamber on improving the recovery of consciousness is better than after HBOT outside the chamber.
Keywords: brain injury; disorders of consciousness; hyperbaric oxygen therapy; right median-nerve electrical stimulation.
© 2022 The Authors. Brain and Behavior published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.